Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the 14th-15th century German rabbi. For individuals with similar names, see Mahari.
Rabbi
Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin
Grave of Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin in Worms, Germany
TitleMaharil
Personal
Bornc. 1360
Mainz
DiedSeptember 14, 1427
ReligionJudaism
ParentRabbi Moshe Levi Moelin
BuriedWorms

Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin (

Shulkhan Arukh
.

Biography

Maharil was the son and pupil of Moshe Levi Moelin, Rabbi of Mainz, and a pupil of R. Shalom b. Isaac (he) of Wiener Neustadt. At a young age, Moelin was recognized as a budding scholar. In 1387, he succeeded his father as Rabbi of Mainz. He established a yeshiva in Mainz which attracted many students. One of his most noteworthy students was Jacob Weil. Moelin lived through the mass slaughter of Jews in Austria in 1420 and the Hussite Wars in 1421, which brought suffering to the Jews of Bavaria and the Rhine; see History of the Jews in Germany. Maharil played an important role in rebuilding these communities. He died and was buried in Worms.

Moelin composed

piyyutim for the synagogue. He was also a notable Hazzan who famously ruled that traditional melodies should not be changed. Some traditional melodies attributed to him were still in use in pre-World War II Mainz. He appears also to have been familiar with the study of astronomy
.

Works

Maharil's best known work is Minhagei Maharil, also known as Sefer ha-Maharil or simply the Minhagim. It contains a detailed description of religious observances and rites, at home and in the

Shulkhan Arukh - and has become a valuable source for later scholars
.

Another pupil of Moelin, Eleazer b. Jacob, collected some of Moelin's responsa; these were published in Venice in 1549. Many more of Moelin's responsa remained in manuscript. These were collected and edited by Rabbi Yitzhak Satz, and, published in 1977 under the title SHuT Maharil heChadashot ("New Responsa of Yaakov Molin").

Recently, the German

esoteric scholar Georg Dehn has argued that the MaHaRIL was also the author of The Book of Abramelin, which he wrote under the pseudonym of Abraham von Worms.[1] However, this is disputed.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Dehn, Georg (2006). The Book of Abramelin: A New Translation. Translated by Steven Guth. Ibis Publishing.
  2. ^ "Review: The Book of Abramelin". Archived from the original on 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2010-05-16.

External links

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